Hepatophyta There are a large number of Heptophyta, over 10,000 species, so you can tell that they have a lot of bio-diversity. The main type of plant species that belongs to the Heptophyta are the liverworts. In this wiki page I will hopefully be able to educate you on the this subject you can run forth and drink from the fountain of knowledge, and better yourself in the ways of biology.
The Vascular System The xylem in the plants is the nonliving part of the plant that transports the water up though the plant. The plants with xylem can grow to huge lengths because of the vascular system. Redwood trees can grow up to three hundred feet in the air, and they don't have to worry about water getting to all of the necessary places in the plant because the xylem takes care of that. The phloem in plants are the living part of the vascular system, and their job is to transport all of the sugar that the plants produce after photosynthesis. Like the xylem, this allows the plants to grow to large lengths. The ability for liverworts to reach long lengths is about as effective as Western European peace agreements, in that they are not very effective at all. Liverworts don't have a vascular system therefore they are only 10-20mm wide, and 10cm long. Without that oh so helpful vascular system supporting the liverworts they have to grow close to wet rocks, and other wet things low to the ground so that they can get all of the nutrients that they need.
Life cycle Liverworts have a dibiontic life cycle, witch means that they have both haploid and diploid phases. Like most other plants of the dibiontic life cycle, the liverwort spends most of it's time in the haploid phase. This means that when you view a liverwort on a hike though the mountains you are most likely seeing haploid tissue. The spore than germinates and then produces a single celled protonema, a small filamentous cell. This specialized single-celled structure anchors the liverwort to its substrate and takes up nutrients from the soil. 80% of liverworts have separate male and female plants, while 20% of liverworts have male and female reproductive organs on the same plant. Each female reproductive organ produces one plant , and each male reproductive organ produces many sperm cells with a single flagella. The sperm cells then swim across the reproductive English Channel to fertilize the egg to form a diploid cell. Witch will eventually turn the plant into a diploid.
Evolutionary Success
Liverworts would obviously, not be around today if they were not evolutionary successful, so lets take a moment to discus what makes liverworts so successful in a biology version of an Oscar speech. Liverworts can support a verity of small invertebrates so that can help the amount of resources available though mutalism, and the fact that liverworts are small plants on the top of rocks in the event of a forest fire it would be difficult for them to all burn to cinders. Gemmae are washed out of the cups when it rains, and they grow into new, genetically identical liverworts so that makes reproducing a lot easier. Liverworts are durable plants, though I don't see them dominating a lot of other plants, I at least see them taking home the bronze.
Roots, Stems, and Leaves
Roots act as the foundation for plants and they reach deep into the ground and anchor the plant to a single location. They also retrieve nutrients from deep within the ground and brings them back to the plant, and in to the vascular system. Stems give the plant a chance to stretch it's leaves in the sun. They also stretch nutrients to the furthest points of the plant. Stems are filled with xylem, and phloem. Leaves capture energy from the sun to help start the process called photosynthesis. Though photosynthesis the leaves create the sugar to be transported by the vascular system though various other areas of the plant.
There are a large number of Heptophyta, over 10,000 species, so you can tell that they have a lot of bio-diversity. The main type of plant species that belongs to the Heptophyta are the liverworts. In this wiki page I will hopefully be able to educate you on the this subject you can run forth and drink from the fountain of knowledge, and better yourself in the ways of biology.
The Vascular System
The xylem in the plants is the nonliving part of the plant that transports the water up though the plant. The plants with xylem can grow to huge lengths because of the vascular system. Redwood trees can grow up to three hundred feet in the air, and they don't have to worry about water getting to all of the necessary places in the plant because the xylem takes care of that. The phloem in plants are the living part of the vascular system, and their job is to transport all of the sugar that the plants produce after photosynthesis. Like the xylem, this allows the plants to grow to large lengths.
The ability for liverworts to reach long lengths is about as effective as Western European peace agreements, in that they are not very effective at all. Liverworts don't have a vascular system therefore they are only 10-20mm wide, and 10cm long. Without that oh so helpful vascular system supporting the liverworts they have to grow close to wet rocks, and other wet things low to the ground so that they can get all of the nutrients that they need.
Life cycle
Liverworts have a dibiontic life cycle, witch means that they have both haploid and diploid phases. Like most other plants of the dibiontic life cycle, the liverwort spends most of it's time in the haploid phase. This means that when you view a liverwort on a hike though the mountains you are most likely seeing haploid tissue. The spore than germinates and then produces a single celled protonema, a small filamentous cell. This specialized single-celled structure anchors the liverwort to its substrate and takes up nutrients from the soil.
80% of liverworts have separate male and female plants, while 20% of liverworts have male and female reproductive organs on the same plant. Each female reproductive organ produces one plant , and each male reproductive organ produces many sperm cells with a single flagella. The sperm cells then swim across the reproductive English Channel to fertilize the egg to form a diploid cell. Witch will eventually turn the plant into a diploid.
Evolutionary Success
Liverworts would obviously, not be around today if they were not evolutionary successful, so lets take a moment to discus what makes liverworts so successful in a biology version of an Oscar speech. Liverworts can support a verity of small invertebrates so that can help the amount of resources available though mutalism, and the fact that liverworts are small plants on the top of rocks in the event of a forest fire it would be difficult for them to all burn to cinders. Gemmae are washed out of the cups when it rains, and they grow into new, genetically identical liverworts so that makes reproducing a lot easier. Liverworts are durable plants, though I don't see them dominating a lot of other plants, I at least see them taking home the bronze.
Roots, Stems, and Leaves
Roots act as the foundation for plants and they reach deep into the ground and anchor the plant to a single location. They also retrieve nutrients from deep within the ground and brings them back to the plant, and in to the vascular system. Stems give the plant a chance to stretch it's leaves in the sun. They also stretch nutrients to the furthest points of the plant. Stems are filled with xylem, and phloem. Leaves capture energy from the sun to help start the process called photosynthesis. Though photosynthesis the leaves create the sugar to be transported by the vascular system though various other areas of the plant.
Works Cited
1.http://zipcodezoo.com Hepatophyta (Phylum), by unknown.
2.http://faculty.clintoncc.suny.edu
3.http://users.tamuk.edu
4.http://www.biology.duke.edu Liverwort Life Cycle
5.http://science.jrank.org/pages/3967/Liverwort-Life-cycle.html Liverwort Life Cycle
6.http://www.freezingblue.com/iphone/flashcards/printPreview.php?fileid=11420 Non-Vascular Plants, and Seedless Plants
7.siera104.com
8.calflora.net